The Toothache

Tonight's Episode

This is Day one of Flash August Fiction ‘26.

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Billy was so tired of his toothache. It had been going on for weeks and this is really not a good time for something like this. His anxiousness was apparent. He was a generally relaxed and well-adjusted guy. Anxiety was not a trait he suffered from. That’s how one can tell the difference between anxiousness and anxiety. Anxiety is a trait, anxiousness is circumstantial. Billy is having a rough go.

Living in Canada, the care he needs is available, but there’s a pretty long wait, and this is an emergency. He started calling around to Dentists to see if there is any way he can get help soon, because he needed this to be done by a specific time or else it would have irrevocable effects on his well-being.

When people would ask him what the problem was, why the specific date, and why so adamant about that date, he would be vague. His story would change, he’d use cryptic language, and he would avert his eyes. People could tell that he was withholding something, and that just made them more curious about what he was withholding than with his most excruciating concern. His tooth.

He thought about going to the States. He knew it would cost out of pocket, but this had to be done soon, or else. While he and his friend Edgar were driving to the border, they had a falling out. Billy was grumpy and full of panic, and he said some terrible things. Edgar turned the car around to spite Billy, and he wouldn’t change his mind.

On the way home they had to pass through an area known to have terrible events where people disappeared, and gruesome evidence would be left at horrifying scenes. The weirdness of that didn’t help matters, and it made Billy even more freaked out. Edgar was all the way ready to get Billy out of his car.

Now Billy had to face the reality that he would not be able to get his tooth taken care of before the date. He was mortified, and sad, and regretful for alienating his friend Edgar. Edgar was a good guy. He didn’t deserve to be treated badly, after all he was helping his friend.

Billy arrived at his mysterious deadline. He watched as the full moon rose above the horizon. He began to whimper, and whine. He ran like a madman into the woods. Screaming and yowling in fear at the top of his lungs as he transformed into a werewolf. The bellowing sadness and pain in his howling was palpable.

A few days later, there was talk all over town about Billy, who was found in the woods, with an infected abscessed canine tooth that went left untreated for too long.

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